Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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Why don’t  the Orthodox Churches believe in“the rosary”, in which the Catholic Church believes? I personally do not see anything wrong with saying these small prayers to saint Mary . I see it as there is nothing wrong with having this “the rosary” with me. Please, I want some evidence or a detailed answer which qualifies whether or not we believe in it, and why we do not, and if we do believe in it, then why we believe in it.

The Rosary is not an instrument used by our church for many reasons. At the time that some believed that the rosary was given to St. Dominic (an acknowledged saint in the Roman Catholic Church), the Oriental Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church had already been separated for some time. This schism ex-communicated and alienated the two churches from each other for further theological discussions, determining the veracity of apparitions or miracles, and for conceding or disputing on many other concerns of the church. As a result of the Third Ecumenical Council, which took place before the schism, the unified apostolic church agreed to add the Introduction to the Creed. St. Cyril the Pillar of Faith was instrumental in establishing this prayer and defending the title of Theotokos, Mother of God. Some monastics use beads for concentration on their prayers throughout the day, not for concentration on the beads themselves. The Roman Catholic Church has imposed many conditional prayers for salvation, which is not of sound theological doctrine in our perspective. The use of the rosary and the wearing of the scapular are amongst these. Other well known allegations of apparitions conferred upon by the Roman Catholic Church regarding the Blessed Mother report that she also claimed to be the Holy Conception which is heretic in the view of the Coptic Orthodox Church. During some of these apparitions, they claim that the Holy Virgin also stated to them to wear scapulars and to recite the rosary regularly. Thus, many Catholics today neglect the Holy Bible and many other important aspects of the Holy Sacraments, and instead venerate the rosary instead. One would question why would the Virgin Mary request this intense prayer toward herself rather than mandate more attention to be given to Her Son and Her God, Jesus Christ, and His teachings in the Holy Bible? This is not characteristic of her humility. Never in the history of our church has the Holy Virgin requested anything for herself.

For more reading, please visit: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm
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